Brian Deska won two double hill matches on his way to a victory in the January 14-15 stop on the Action Pool Tour. Both were against Paul Helms, who won four straight double hill matches on the loss-side to get back to the finals against Deska. The event, which drew 81 entrants, was hosted by VIP Billiards in Catonsville, MD.
They met first and chalked up their first double hill battle among the winners' side final four. Deska sent Helms west and moved on to the hot seat match against Abdulla Mohammed, who'd just defeated Dave Beegle 9-3. Deska moved into the hot seat with 9-5 victory over Mohammed and awaited Helms' return.
Over on the loss-side, Helms picked up Alan Duty, who'd gotten by tour director Ozzy Reynolds and Rick Molineiro, both 7-5. Beegle drew the tour's # 1 ranked player, Brandon Shuff, who'd been sent west by Deska from among the winners' side final eight, and defeated Donny Perriman 7-2, and Eric Heiland 7-1. Helms chalked up his first of four straight double hill wins with a victory over Duty, as Beegle was busy downing Shuff 7-4. Helms then ended Beegle's day 7-6 in the quarterfinals and went on to defeat Mohammed in the semifinals by the same score.
With five straight double hill battles behind him, Helms got his second crack at Deska. In the opening set of what would have been a true double elimination final, Helms took Deska to the brink a second time, and for the second time, Deska prevailed, to capture the event title.
